Watch Monica Lewinsky Sing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" At NYC Club On Her Birthday

Celebrity

Watch Monica Lewinsky Sing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" At NYC Club On Her Birthday

TOT

On Twitter, Monica Lewinsky describes herself as a "human, anti-bullying activist, speaker, Vanity Fair contributor, Ted Talks giver, Resilience Foundation board member, rap song muse, and former beret model."

However, in people's memories and in pop culture, Lewinsky will always be synonymous with Bill former U.S. President Bill Clinton in a very scandalous way.

In the late 90s, while was working as a White House intern, then 22-year-old Lewinsky became embroiled in one of the biggest political scandals the nation has ever seen: She was having an affair with Clinton.

She confided in her co-worker, Linda Tripp, who was secretly recording all of their conversations. She eventually released her tapes to Independent Investigator Kenneth Star, who was already looking into the Clinton administration.

In January 1998, reports about Lewinsky and Clinton's affair surfaced, forcing Clinton to make a public statement. With is wife, Hillary Clinton, by his side, he denied all the allegations.

"I'm going to say this again: I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky," he said to the press.

However, once Lewinsky handed over the infamous semen-stained blue dress to the investigators, Clinton found himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. He had no choice but to fess up that he did engage in a sexual act with his intern.

Despite the controversy their affair stirred up, Clinton managed to finish his term with a 65% approval rating.

As for Lewinsky, she turned into a political punchline for the next couple of years. However, other scandals occurred and people slowly started to push her story to the back of their minds.

Over the years, she avoided publicity as much as possible while pursuing a Master's degree in social psychology at the London School of Economics. She finally re-emerged in 2014, when she wrote an essay about her life and the humiliation she suffered.

"Me, America's B.J. Queen. That Intern. That Vixen. Or, in the inescapable phrase of our 42nd president, "˜That Woman,' Lewinsky wrote in Vanity Fair. "It may surprise you to learn that I'm actually a person."

Lewinsky became a very vocal anti-bullying advocate, leading her to deliver TED Talks on the topic.

Lewinsky giving her TED Talk, "The Price of Shame."TED.com

With the rise of the #MeToo movement, Lewinsky has been more relevant than ever.

"Now, at 44, I'm beginning (just beginning) to consider the implications of the power differentials that were so vast between a president and a White House intern. I'm beginning to entertain the notion that in such a circumstance the idea of consent might well be rendered moot," she wrote. "But it's also complicated. Very, very complicated."

She was back in the headlines last month after Clinton told the Today show that he never directly apologized to Lewinsky after the scandal.

However, it seems like the activist is not letting any of that bother her, especially not on her birthday.

Lewinsky turned 45 on July 23, and decided to celebrate in a very musical way. She took the stage at her friend and actor Alan Cumming's New York City club to deliver her rendition of a classic tune from The Wizard of Oz, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

It wasn't a perfect performance - her voice cracked - but the supportive crowd shouted, "You got this, girl," to keep her going.

Lewinsky later shared another clip from the evening in which the crowd serenaded her with "Happy birthday."

"Lucky girl!" she captioned the short Twitter video.

She's no Mariah Carey, but who knows, maybe someday she'll audition for The Voice or better yet, record an album. Lewinsky has proven that she's very good at reinventing herself.

What do you think of her singing? Let us know in the comments!

Blair isn't a bestselling author, but she has a knack for beautiful prose. When she isn't writing for Shared, she enjoys listening to podcasts.